Oh NO, they stole my Hub Caps !! |
KEEP A STIFF UPPER LIP
Philippians 3:1 Whatever happens, my dear
brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you
these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.
Philippians 4:4 Always be full of joy in the
Lord. I say it again--rejoice!
There is an old English saying; “Keep a stiff upper lip”
which means to show courage in the face of pain or adversity.
When Hazel and I were visiting Tulsa Oklahoma
someone stole the hub caps off of our new car while we were in church. When I became aware of it I must say I wasn’t
in the mood for rejoicing.
A friend of mine told me, “Don’t let Satan steal your joy.” He went on to say “just give them to whoever
took them.”
This was stuff I had been taught in our classes at Rhema Bible
College and I knew of
what my friend was reminding me.
These kinds of issues are some of the most difficult to deal
with. It requires you to submit to the word of GOD and forgive the guilty
one. Anger on several levels rises up
and the fact you have to deal with anger is a greater wrong than what has been
done to you.
So many today are being forced to face unthinkable wrongs of
all types. One of the worse is the loss of a loved one through violence. Having
to forgive in order to start the healing process is a difficult place. The hurt
remains but the hate will eventually subside if you forgive.
This was my experience with the hub caps issue and other
things that has been my misfortune to go through.
Bad things are going to happen to us all, and Satan is going
to try to steal your joy. Don’t let him get away with his evil. How? By forgiving and rejoicing in the Lord
and again I say rejoice.
James put it like this; James1:2-4
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles
come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when
your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for
when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete,
needing nothing.
ReplyDeleteamen
As usual, you shared truthfully and filled with the info of how the Lord will break into our lives in a good way, in spite of the sinfulness. AND how Satan breaks in and we need to truly focus on the Lord. Again, thank you.
Delete